# Learning Frames for Going Back to School

The first day of school can cause trepidation for both young and old.

Over [50 million students](https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=372) will attend elementary and secondary schools in the 2020 school year.

Of the [19 million graduate students](https://hechingerreport.org/is-college-enrollment-among-older-adults-increasing-depends-who-you-ask/) that are enrolled in colleges and universities about 8 million will be adults aged 25 and older.

The point of school is to learn. Learning how to learn would seem like the first class that every student should take.

That is not how our scholiast system is set up.  But the need is there.  Barbara Oakley runs Coursera’s “Learning How to Learn” course, which has had over 2.3 million students, which makes it the world’s largest MOOC (Massively Online Open Course).

Learning can be a challenge for many people who feel powerless when they are in a classroom trying to learn something.  Study and practice can feel like an uphill, overwhelming, task.  What most students want is a great learning experience regardless of the class or instructor.  They want the confidence to learn anything.

How we frame what we are going to learn makes all of the difference.  Learning that is guided by meaning and more importantly being able to get those facts and lessons in our memory defines our academic performance.  Many frame how to learn by gravitating toward a learning style.  That is the start of a Learning Frame.

Meet Jason Barron.  He had two problems:

1. How to be a successful adult student
2. How to pay off the student debt he would incur while getting his MBA?

He had the idea to make sketchnotes of his classes rather than scribble conventional lecture notes, and then compile everything into a book with the hope of using the profits to pay off his student loans.

After a few classes and sketches he created a Kickstarter campaign requesting $7,000 to cover the editing and printing costs. 2,300 backers pledged more than $73,500 to the campaign.

Barron, a self-proclaimed visual learner, said “putting [concepts] visually helps me as I study things out in my mind.”

In recalling and retelling what you have learned in a way that makes sense is called reinforcement and elaboration.

Elaboration is a way to study by explaining and describing ideas by making connections among ideas you are trying to learn and connecting the material to your own experiences, memories, and day-to-day life.

The [visual MBA story](https://www.deseretnews.com/article/865692465/How-one-Mormon-turned-his-MBA-notes-into-a-book-to-pay-off-student-debts-and-then-some.html) is really about how Barron was able to elaborate the material in a meaningful way so that he could achieve his learning goals. We can do the same, if we learn how to frame our educational experiences.

How did Barron frame his education experiences?

This is a Learning Frame:

[Learning Frames](/content/what-is-learning-frames/index.html) is a simple yet powerful cognitive alignment model that helps you create effective learning experiences. Based on proven neuroscience and instructional design principles a learning framework will:

- Give you a sustainable mindset for learning
- Give you the tools and methods to overcome learning bias and increase your ability to learn
- Give you a framework that empowers you to increase your potential through acquiring knowledge, skills, and empowering your learning potential

How to build a learning frame in 5 easy steps:

1. Create a Learning Goal
2. Define the Reason for learning
3. Analyze your ability to learn and your baseline knowledge
4. Make a plan or Strategy to achieve your learning goal
5. Be accountable for what you know and Evaluate what you still need to learn to achieve your learning goal

Many create these frames organically, but now you can have a system to apply a learning frame to any experience.

[Access](https://shanes-school-9fea.thinkific.com/courses/learning-frames-system) How to Build Your own Learning Frame online course.

[Create Your Own Learning Frame](https://shanes-school-9fea.thinkific.com/courses/learning-frames-system):  Back 2 School Special price: was $40, now $4.99.